Store Brand Compendium

xaprb · Joined: 28 Jan 2021 Posts: 171

Does anyone know about Kalt? I canâ€™t find anything on the Internet. I occasionally see a Kalt lens or accessory such as hoods, filters, etc. The lenses Iâ€™ve seen are similar-looking to a lot of others, rather generic-looking and ordinary focal lengths such as 135mm f2.8â€™s. If you search the eBay lens category for Kalt thereâ€™s a number of examples (at time of posting) with photos of the boxes.

D1N0 · Joined: 07 Aug 2012 Posts: 2537

visualopsins · Expire: 2025-04-11

Photo of "AICOSET-P 1:2.8 f=28mm No. xxxxx WIDEANGLE" by ebay seller allthenicestuff
Click here to see on Ebay

xaprb · Joined: 28 Jan 2021 Posts: 171

I was interested in Admiral, and I see they have been discussed elsewhere on MFL:
http://forum.mflenses.com/admiral-lenses---an-inquiry-t74835.html

The outcome: not a store brand; but a distributor/importer brand, like Vivitar and Soligor etc. Iâ€™ll add that info to the running tally in the first post.

xaprb · Joined: 28 Jan 2021 Posts: 171

Two others Iâ€™ve noticed lately: Zivnon and Fotomat.

Fotomat was a chain of American kiosks located mostly in shopping center parking lots. I think I have seen one of these converted into a drive-thru coffee shop! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fotomat

Zivnon is a mystery to me, anyone know anything about this brand?

calvin83 · Joined: 12 Apr 2009 Posts: 7584 Location: Hong Kong

Doc Sharptail · Joined: 23 Nov 2020 Posts: 1216 Location: Winnipeg Canada

Another odd one, but probably not a store brand is Toshiba.
One of my recent lens purchases came with a Toshiba 1-A filter on it.
We have a Toshiba t.v. here, and I've seen their cam-corders before with Toshiba marked lenses.
The 52mm filter is a new one on me though- first I've seen of this branding.

-D.S.

xaprb · Joined: 28 Jan 2021 Posts: 171

Does anyone know about DeJur?

xaprb · Joined: 28 Jan 2021 Posts: 171

xaprb · Joined: 28 Jan 2021 Posts: 171

kansalliskala · Expire: 2016-12-30

Expert is an electronics store chain in Europe
https://www.expert.ie/

Can not see the logo here but I have actually seen the logo on a c/y extension tube.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/144636694443

xaprb · Joined: 28 Jan 2021 Posts: 171

Thanks, I see also another listing for an Expert lens. You can see the branding on this one.

D1N0 · Joined: 07 Aug 2012 Posts: 2537

http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Expert

They had a lot of Tamron made lenses, rebrands from Chinon (who had a range made by Tamron)

xaprb · Joined: 28 Jan 2021 Posts: 171

Iâ€™ve just come across some lenses and accessories (filters) of the Erno brand. From what I can see it seems to be mostly found in Germany. I see one 500mm f8 mirror lens thatâ€™s a generic rebranded Japanese that was also found as a bunch of other brands such as Quantaray et al; Iâ€™ve found one other thread here on MFL which identifies a lens as similar to a Korean-made Albinar: http://forum.mflenses.com/erno-lenses-t68193.html from this, I assume Erno was a similar rebrander/relabeler. However Iâ€™m not sure if it was a store brand per se, or simply a trade name for importing and distributing like Vivitar.

guardian · Joined: 18 Mar 2009 Posts: 1746

I collect the Vernon Edonar lenses.

Might be a store brand.

Unsure.

But nice lenses. Always try to to obtain the original test films which came with each lens. But they are a really tough get.

You can see, on Macca's 350mm thread, what my most recent acquisition looks like:

http://forum.mflenses.com/vernon-edonar-350mm-5-5-t68538,highlight,%2Bvernon+%2Bedonar+%2B350.html

You must scroll down to view his lens.

xaprb · Joined: 28 Jan 2021 Posts: 171

Does anyone know about Optomax lenses? The suggestions Iâ€™ve found online are that itâ€™s a UK store brand, but I didnâ€™t see which store. The main link I found with discussion is http://forum.mflenses.com/what-about-optomax-lenses-t69588.html

xaprb · Joined: 28 Jan 2021 Posts: 171

Iâ€™ve just realized that Walimex (Walimex Pro) is the house brand of Foto Walser in Germany. This is probably common knowledge if youâ€™re in that region, but Iâ€™m in the US. Hereâ€™s the photo from an eBay listing that made me realize this:

#1

D1N0 · Joined: 07 Aug 2012 Posts: 2537

Afaik Walimex is usually a rebranded Samyang lens.

xaprb · Joined: 28 Jan 2021 Posts: 171

I just stumbled upon Nikura, a brand I have not heard of before. Google doesnâ€™t know much about them. Anyone know whether they are/were a store brand and which store?

I found https://www.nikurajapan.com/ but it doesnâ€™t seem certain this is the same company; the lenses Iâ€™m seeing are all from decades ago and mostly seem to be made in Korea. Perhaps Nikura is/was a Japanese rebrander/distributor, though, and sourcing lenses from Korea; that wouldnâ€™t surprise me. In any event their product catalog doesnâ€™t seem to include lenses anymore, just things like household appliances.

D1N0 · Joined: 07 Aug 2012 Posts: 2537

calvin83 · Joined: 12 Apr 2009 Posts: 7584 Location: Hong Kong

VINES CAMERAS
https://www.companysearchesmadesimple.com/company/uk/00578513/vines-cameras-hemel-hempstead-limited/

from https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256289352819

Line up:
Vines 35mm F2.8 Retro-Lumax
Vines 35mm F3.5 Retro-Lumax
Vines 135mm F3.5 Tele-Lumax
Vines 135mm F4.5 Tele-Lumax
and more?

philslizzy · Joined: 07 Aug 2012 Posts: 4745 Location: Cheshire, England

A store brand I sold in the 70s was Maxlo

Lomax had just two branches in Manchester and Macclesfield in the north of England. They were cheap, preset lenses, can't remember if they were fixed mount or what. We also sold binoculars with the same Maxlo branding.

I guess if a small company like that could sell own brand lenses, anyone could

Doc Sharptail · Joined: 23 Nov 2020 Posts: 1216 Location: Winnipeg Canada

Yet another store brand filter.

I had forgotten about these guys~ and it's possible they are still in business. Tempted to call these "4th party" as likely most of these are yet another re-branding.

-D.S.

xaprb · Joined: 28 Jan 2021 Posts: 171

I found this at https://omegabrandess.com/about-us/ and thought it was interesting.

The history of OmegaBrandess starts all the way back in 1935 when three brothers, Fred, Rudolph, and Alfred Simmon produced a domestic enlarger for the 35mm camera format. In 1936, they chose the Greek letter ‘Omega’ as their trademark and registered it with the US Patent Office. Over the years, they adapted to the market and came out with several different enlargers.

During World War II, civilian use of enlargers was prohibited. The trio secured contracts with the Army Signal Corps and the US Navy, and they were commissioned to make enlargers and film pack cameras to meet the Navy requirements for combat conditions. After the war ended, they resumed their production of consumer enlargers. By the mid-1950s, the brothers had made the decision to become a division of Berkey Photo so that their legacy may live on. With the introduction of color head enlargers that allowed photographers to produce their own enlargements, Omega introduced a number of new models in the 70s and 80s.

With the introduction of one hour photo labs, point-and-shoot 35 mm cameras and digital cameras, the darkroom market began to plummet. In the late 1980s, Berkey Photo went bankrupt. The assets of the Omega enlarger division of Berkey were purchased in 1988 by the RT Color Corp., and was renamed Omega International. Not long after, that company also entered bankruptcy. In May of 1990, the assets of the now bankrupt Omega International were purchased by a small group of Baltimore-based investors under the name Omega Acquisition Corporation.

In November, 1990 the new company made its first acquisition when they purchased the assets of Arkay Corp. of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, including the King Concept operation in Minneapolis, to become Omega/Arkay. Things move quickly from there and the company relocated to Westminster, MD. in 1991.

In 1992, the company acquired the assets of the Kostiner Photographic company, a well-known manufacturer of easels and print washers.

In June of 1994, Omega Acquisition acquired the assets of GMI Photographic Inc. of Farmingdale, NY, distributors of the well-known line of Bronica medium format cameras.

In 1995, they purchased the assets of Satter, Inc. in Denver, Colorado. Satter distributed and marketed major photographic lines such as Achiever electronic flashes, Tiffen filters, Forte black & white paper and film, and its own TUNDRA Brand bags, batteries, tripods, camera cases, and accessories. The result was the new Satter/Omega company.

In 1996, the Arkay product line was sold.

In 1998, the company moved its headquarters back to Hampstead, MD. The move was followed in December of 1999 with the closing of the Denver, CO. warehouse, which had been acquired from Satter. The Denver operations were then consolidated into the Hampstead, MD facility.

In 2001, Omega Acquisition Corporation began doing business under the new name of OmegaSatter, representing the combination of these companies into one and providing their customers with a single source for photographic and darkroom equipment, supplies and accessories. Also in 2001, the company acquired the assets of Berg Color Tone Corp. in New York and moved the operation to its facility in Maryland.

In 2004, Omega Acquisition acquired the assets of Phoenix Corporation of America and relocated the operation from Long Island, NY to its Hampstead facility. The Phoenix line included SLR cameras and lenses, flashes, tripods and other consumer-oriented products, thus transforming the company into one of the leading distributors of photographic products.

In 2008, Omega Acquisition acquired the assets of Novatron Electronics Corporation, manufacturers of studio lighting equipment, and relocated the manufacturing and assembly of the line from Dallas, TX to its Hampstead facility.

In January, 2010, Omega Acquisition acquired the assets of Brandess Kalt Aetna Group to become an even more powerful presence in the Industry, know today as OmegaBrandess Distribution. Like Satter, “BKA” had a large catalog of photographic products that targeted the enthusiast including popular brands like Kodak, Pelican, Kalt, and others. This acquisition more than doubled the size of the company.

In late 2014, OmegaBrandess purchased the hardware assets of Gigapan, LLC. GigaPan, a robotic camera mount system that assists photographers in creating ultra-high resolution panoramic images. The mounts are now manufactured by OmegaBrandess in their Hampstead, MD facility.

The most recent acquisition took place in January 2015 when OmegaBrandess acquired several lines from another established distributor, HP Marketing. Becoming part of the ever-growing catalog of products were brands including Giottos, Rodenstock, Linhof, Gepe and more.

In 2020 OmegaBrandess was acquired by PromarkBRANDS, one of the leading photographic lighting and accessory manufacturers in USA.

OmegaBrandess Distribution continues to expand by adding new, exclusive lines and seeking out select opportunities that will fuel the company’s growth into the coming years.